O&M LURES BOURS FROM DDB TO TAKE KEY CREATIVE POST: EXEC WILL WORK ON AMEX, KODAK AND HERSHEY AT NEW YORK SHOP

Mr. Page joined O&M in October but left just four months later to become executive creative director at TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York.

Mr. Bours, 40, joins O&M from DDB Worldwide, also New York, where he was a group creative director. He will partner with David Apicella, the longtime O&M creative director best known for O&M's "Seinfeld" ads for American Express Co.

In addition to AmEx, the two will work on Eastman Kodak Co., GTE Corp., Hershey Foods Corp. and Lever Bros. Mr. Bours also will oversee a group of creative teams working on other accounts.

DIVERSE EXPERIENCE

"He has done very diverse and terrific work over a broad spectrum of clients," Rick Boyko, O&M co-president and chief creative officer, said of Mr. Bours. "He and David will really work well as a team."

With Mr. Bours' hiring, O&M's executive creative directors team is again fully staffed, he said.

Mr. Bours is eager to begin work at O&M, although he said he will miss his friends and creative team at DDB. In fact, because of his loyalty to DDB, Mr. Bours almost turned O&M down.

"Rick was meticulous in making sure I understood what O&M was all about. They can offer me a tremendous playing field. And the support staff is also wonderful," he said. "I can't wait to get on that kind of scale."

HELPED NAB SHERATON

During his 18 months at DDB, Mr. Bours created campaigns for Bayer Corp. and Amtrak's new Acela rail service. He also helped the agency nab the $60 million to $80 million Sheraton Hotels & Resorts account. In an interesting twist, O&M handled Sheraton before it went into review.

Before DDB, Mr. Bours worked at McCann-Erickson Worldwide, New York, where he gained hotel experience on Marriott Corp. He also helped come up with the "Priceless" campaign for MasterCard International and worked on the Lucent Technologies "typewriter" ads.